Vassiliou urges French universities to join U-Multirank

European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Androulla Vassiliou will urge French higher education institutions to participate in U-Multirank, the new EU-backed university ranking, when she visits Paris on 18-19 March.

The Commissioner will hold meetings with Bernard Cazeneuve, the Minister for European Affairs, Geneviève Fioraso, Minister for Higher Education and Research, and Valérie Fourneyron, Minister in charge of youth and sports.
The new ranking, launched by Commissioner Vassiliou and the Irish EU Presidency in January, will rate university performance in five areas: reputation for research, quality of teaching and learning, international orientation, success in knowledge transfer and contribution to regional growth.
During the visit, Commissioner Vassiliou will also give her backing to CERES (Cartographie des établissements d’enseignement supérieur et de recherche), an initiative led by French universities to map the country's higher education system, and welcome France's support for the new 'Erasmus for All' programme. Eight EU Higher Education Ministers (France, UK, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Portugal) have sent letters to the President of the European Parliament expressing their preference for the Erasmus for All name.